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Delivering science to help fish, wildlife, water, land and people adapt to a changing climate

NW CASC Connections is designed to help keep you -- a member of the community working to advance climate adaptation in and beyond the Northwest -- in the loop by connecting you to the latest NW CASC science, tools, opportunities and events from across our region. 

Science Spotlight
How is Climate Change Affecting Invasive Species in the Northwest?

There is growing concern that changing climate conditions will amplify the negative impacts of non-native invasive species and facilitate their expansion. Despite the potential ecological and economic impacts of invasive species expansions in the Northwest, there has been no comprehensive synthesis on climate change effects on invasive species - until now. NW CASC-funded researchers Jennifer Gervais (Oregon Wildlife Institute), Clint Muhlfeld (U.S. Geological Survey) and colleagues conducted an extensive literature analysis to determine the current state of knowledge about climate change effects on non-native invasive species in the Northwest.

This analysis focused on studies describing how climate change has already influenced, or is projected to influence, the demography, range, spread or impact of almost 400 non-native invasive species. These include both terrestrial and aquatic species that have either been documented in the Northwest or whose future invasion of the Northwest is considered inevitable.

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Science Spotlight
Lynx on the Edge? Canada Lynx Occupancy in Washington

The Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) is a sensitive indicator species for impacts of climate change, as it is adapted to forested, high-elevation and deep-snow environments. In Washington, part of its southern range, the endangered Canada lynx is especially threatened by increases in temperature and associated loss of snow cover. Understanding how lynx population and occupancy patterns are influenced by climate and fire history is necessary to create effective and long-term management strategies for this species. 

Researchers partially-funded by the NW CASC partnered with a group of federal and state agencies, as well as NGOs, to evaluate lynx distribution and status by conducting the largest systematic lynx camera trapping survey in Washington state to date. This effort constituted two years of data collection from nearly 650 camera stations and resulted in approximately 2 million images.

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Events & Opportunities
  • The NW CASC’s spring webinar series on Early Career Considerations for Co-Producing Actionable Science is underway! View the recorded April 7th webinar and register for the May 5th & June 1st webinars here.

  • The American Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP) is hiring a Program Coordinator to support ASAP programs, member groups and events. ASAP is also seeking applications for a Climate Adaptation Fellowship to support applied research and field-building projects. Learn more about these positions and apply here.
Faces of Adaptation: Meet Davia Palmeri

Davia Palmeri is the Conservation Policy Coordinator for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), representing the agency on the NW CASC Stakeholder Advisory Committee. In her role at ODFW, she helps the Department prepare for and respond to crosscutting conservation issues between its fish and wildlife divisions, including climate change, renewable energy development and conservation funding. Davia’s favorite thing about her work is the inspiring people she is surrounded by. Says Davia, “I have not met anyone in the fields of wildlife conservation and climate adaptation who doesn’t hope to make the world a better place through what they do!”

Learn More About Davia
Actionable Science Resources
It is becoming increasingly common for scientists to engage with decision-makers to co-produce science that is useful and used for promoting climate resilience. In the perspective piece Toward a multi-faceted conception of co-production of climate services (Bremer et al. 2019), the authors argue the need to extend our understanding of co-production as a more nuanced and complex process that involves multiple perspectives. This paper references recent work that reexamines co-production as an eight-sided prism to “enable a more comprehensive view on co-production as a multi-faceted phenomenon, improve mutual understanding among actors and, ultimately, help design climate services that are better tailored for climate change responses in particular contexts.”

Read the Paper
Uniquely Northwest: Hoary Marmot
If you’ve been hiking in Washington’s Cascade Mountains, you may have had the pleasure of spotting a hoary marmot on a grassy, tree-lined slope or sunning itself on a large rock. The hoary marmot is a montane rodent that lives in high-elevation habitats across western North America and relies on snowpack for hibernation. Like the lynx, the hoary marmot is especially sensitive to climate change. Although the hoary marmot’s changing habitat is expected to affect its survival, other factors indirectly linked to climate change could also be affecting hoary marmot populations. NW CASC research is exploring whether marmot declines may also be driven by changing predator communities, as lower-elevation predators that are normally restricted by snowpack gain better access to marmots as snowpack declines.
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Volume 1: Issue 4
Copyright © 2019 Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center, All rights reserved.

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